Jorgovanka Tabaković: Macroeconomic stability and equal treatment for all investors ensured

Speech by Dr Jorgovanka Tabaković, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, at the Ministerial Dialogue on the Economic Reform Programmes of the Candidate Countries, Brussels, 17 May 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Esteemed colleagues, dear hosts,

Allow me also to extend my gratitude on behalf of the Serbian delegation for the assessments and given recommendations. I believe that we can agree with general assessment that Serbia has made huge progress since our first meetings. We can and must agree also that today our economy is stable, by all means, and that it has good growth prospects.

Now, on behalf of the National Bank of Serbia, I would like to emphasize that we share your view that the Serbian monetary policy was conducted consistent with the inflation targeting regime and the achievement of the targeted inflation rate. The fact is that inflation in Serbia has been preserved at a low level for longer than half a decade. The fact is, as you also pointed out, that Serbia has recorded a sharp fall in the NPL ratio. And another fact is that with our measures we have supported two-digit growth in corporate and household lending, and via this channel, we supported economic growth as well. It is not by accident that I have singled out these segments of our operations. I chose them as they are important components of the business and investment environment.